McCaul: Obama's embassy decision 'smart call'

By Scott Wong

08/04/13 11:25 AM EDT

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul praised the Obama administration on Sunday for closing embassies and consulates throughout the Middle East amid Al Qaeda terror threats, saying it had learned lessons from last year’s attack on diplomatic facilities in Benghazi.

“The administration’s call to close the 21 embassies was a very smart call, particularly in light of what happened in Benghazi when warnings were not heeded,” the Texas Republican said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I’m glad to see to see they are taking this very seriously.”

McCaul, who has been briefed about the possible attacks, said this is one of the most “specific threats” he’s heard about since the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.

National security officials are taking the threat seriously "because of the specificity, because of where it's coming from, the level of chatter. It seems to be a fairly large operation," McCaul said. "It's giving the intelligence community quite a bit of pause."